- (2)My Ilizarov surgery that I received by taking KTX
Kim Gwang-Hu
My life as a college student
The college wasn’t a very nice place for my operated legs. It was because of drinking alcohol. I don’t know about other people, but my legs felt aching the morning after drinking. So I tried to avoid gatherings where I thought I would be drinking a lot, and even if I went, I usually drank water or nonalcoholic drinks. But I had to end up drinking carbonated drinks since bars usually have carbonated drinks more than drinks like orange juice. So I naturally tried to avoid gatherings like that, and became reluctant to meet people. When I met my close friends, I felt a little left out, and felt sorry to my seniors for not being able to drink with them.
After a year in college in 2008, which was 3 years after I got the surgery on my calves, I decided to receive the surgery for my thighs. When 3 years pass by, you can’t really recall the pain you had bad then. I sometimes remembered after doing extraneous exercise or drinking the night before, but forgot about it very soon. So I decided to take off one year from university for the surgery. When I went back to KUMC, the hospital had changed since 3 years ago and had a brand new building.
So I received the surgery above my knee on March 3, 2008, and began another session of painful hospital days. It was another period of days at the hospital that my mom and I had to go through together. This time, the surgery was scheduled for a time after lunch. I don’t remember the exact time. But thanks to my past experience, I knew how much to eat the day before, took care of my business at the bathroom before going to bed, and got ready for the surgery. It was my third time having a surgery, but the anxiety was never changed.
When I got out of the surgery, I didn’t have good sensation on my legs. My legs felt like they weighted tons of kilograms and it was painful, given the fact that it was a bone surgery. But, the effectiveness of painkiller shots was great. I wasn’t able to sleep at night after the surgery I had before, maybe because I didn’t have painkiller shots back then. But this time, at least I didn’t have to suffer because of not being able to fall asleep because of pain. After a number of days at the hospital, it was finally time for me to exercise. But this time, they had built a sports medicine clinic, which allowed me to exercise systematically. So I exercised at that place most of the time.
When I was first started receiving rehabilitation, my knee was bending quite well. That time, they were satisfied with the flexibility of my knee, but it started to stiffen as lengthening continued. Then, the doctors taught me various kinds of exercise, such as slightly flexing the knee with a balloon stuck between the thigh and calf, or slightly pushing backward while I sat on a bed or a chair. The method of using crutches after a thigh surgery was different than the method after a calf surgery. I had to slightly tilt my body to use the crutches this time, since the Ilizarov device was right next to the crutches. Because I didn’t think I was going to stay as long as last time, I practiced using crutches at the sports medicine room, in the ward and in the hallway. At first, I set a goal to walk from where my bed to the door, and started off slowly.
But using crutches could get scary at first. Because it could happen that the crutch can land on water and slip and make me fall. My hands and back get all sweaty and legs get very heavy. It is very nerve wrecking and requires a lot of strength, I don’t think anyone who hasn’t tried would understand what I mean. Anyways, this is how I started rehabilitation along with lengthening. But maybe because there is more flesh on the thigh, it was more painful than the calf during the lengthening process.
I spent a month like that and had outpatient visits after the discharge. When I was getting discharged, I rented a wheelchair from Seoul. Because I needed a special wheelchair that could take in my upper legs too. My mom decided that I rent such wheelchair, the one that the left handle comes out, until I was done with lengthening, so we took it back home with us. But, it was another burden for us.
On our way to the hospital, the wheelchair didn’t fit in the trunk. It was a hopeless situation. I didn’t have to walk much since I had a wheelchair, but transferring it to the hospital was a problem. Sometimes we ordered a big van or a bigger cab, but it was quite pricey. So my mom and I prepared a strap, so that we could put the wheelchair in the trunk then tie it with the strap to the door handle.
The bones went oblique, so it had to be fixed at the outpatient. I don’t think my legs were stabilized well during the surgery. This time my right leg was okay, and only left leg was causing the problem. I felt hopeless at the outpatient. I didn’t have much time to be able to catch the train and my house was far in Busan. My dad had to go to work tomorrow, but we couldn’t go home because of the problematic leg. I really felt like crying.
Because the treatment took so long, they only took care of urgent treatment and we were able to go home at 10 pm. But my leg started bleeding. It was normal that it bled since the scar was touched at the hospital, but the amount was quite a lot that it shocked me. I felt really exhausted especially since I couldn’t eat that much at the hospital earlier in the day. When I got home at Busan, it was already 12.30 AM and around 2 AM when we finally got home. My mom was still awake at home. It was an exhausting day for both me and my dad. I was really upset, not only because we came back very late, but also because I was troubling my parents.
One day, we missed one outpatient appointment because my parents were too busy. So the professor told me to go to a nearby hospital and take an x-ray there and send it to him. After he saw the x-ray, he told me to hurry up and come to the hospital because the shape of the leg didn’t look right. So I hurried to the hospital, but luckily, it turned out that the x-ray taken at my local hospital wasn’t taken correctly. So at least I was relieved to hear that the leg was in good condition. My mom had even brought things for hospitalization, but luckily my leg wasn’t that bad. I guess the x-ray didn’t come out right at the hospital in my neighborhood since it was not that big and they don’t perform big surgeries there.
After all the outpatient appointments, the correction process had come to an end in August. I finally returned the rental wheelchair after 6 months, which came out to be lots of money. When we were returning the wheelchair, the person hinted to my mom that we didn’t use it cleanly. Now I had to walk a long distance since I didn’t have a wheelchair anymore. At that time, the Olympics was going on so I watched the Olympics games, walking down the stairs slowly at the train station, where I waited at the platform for 30 minutes. It was my first time walking on the long platform without the wheelchair, also my first time walking that far ever since I had the upper leg surgery. I was feeling a sense of accomplishment and relief as well. I was a bit overwhelmed by the thought of having to walk this far after I get to my town as well, but I had a good day that day. I was full with confidence that I can do things, even though I was dead tired when I finally got back home.
My only outing after I was done with outpatient was only the time when I went out home to get some air. I couldn’t easily contact my friends my friends because all of them were either serving in the military or going to school. I started getting depressed because I stayed home most of the time. I felt like it was my fault whenever my parents had an argument and I was by myself during the day. The only things I could be interested were my English vocabulary book, TV, and the computer. The only way I could communicate with people was through computer games, but sitting in front of the computer also made my back and legs hurt. So after that, I lied on my bed and look at the English book, then turn on the TV. I still set a daily schedule and tried to follow it. I did a lot of leg exercise and tried to stay strong.
Time just went by like that. The long duration in between my outpatient appointments showed that I was getting close to the completion of the 2nd surgery. It was a good thing. I could even notice that my legs were getting longer. Finally, it was the day to have the device removed on my upper legs after bone healing. Because the pins were bigger, it was more painful than the time they removed the pins on my lower legs.
After the removal, I came home with casts on. I rented a wheelchair at the train station to get home. Because my bed was too low, I used my parents’ bed, which was higher than mine. My parents slept in my room or in the living room every day. I felt so sorry and like I was a very bad son. But my mom always encouraged me when she was actually going through much than I was. What was I suffering from? Whenever I was in pain, I always complained to my mom and asked her why she gave birth to me. But it wasn’t like my mom and dad wanted to have a child like way either. That night, I cried secretly in my room.
After having the leg braces, I walked to my grandma’s slowly, and walked around in the neighborhood. I also when to the public bath and hair salon a few times too. And of course, I walked by myself. It took me one year and one month until I had the leg braces removed. I think it took a longer time for removal because I was at home most of the time without much exercise and my upper legs weren’t as strong as the lower legs.
After recovery, I used to go to the rehabilitation center for exercise, but I stopped going after a week, because I thought I could do better if I exercised at home by myself. I had pretty much learned the necessary exercises. Because of the exercises that I did at the rehabilitation center and at home, I didn’t have to go through another surgery for tendon release.
Kim Gwang-Hu
My life as a college student
The college wasn’t a very nice place for my operated legs. It was because of drinking alcohol. I don’t know about other people, but my legs felt aching the morning after drinking. So I tried to avoid gatherings where I thought I would be drinking a lot, and even if I went, I usually drank water or nonalcoholic drinks. But I had to end up drinking carbonated drinks since bars usually have carbonated drinks more than drinks like orange juice. So I naturally tried to avoid gatherings like that, and became reluctant to meet people. When I met my close friends, I felt a little left out, and felt sorry to my seniors for not being able to drink with them.
After a year in college in 2008, which was 3 years after I got the surgery on my calves, I decided to receive the surgery for my thighs. When 3 years pass by, you can’t really recall the pain you had bad then. I sometimes remembered after doing extraneous exercise or drinking the night before, but forgot about it very soon. So I decided to take off one year from university for the surgery. When I went back to KUMC, the hospital had changed since 3 years ago and had a brand new building.
So I received the surgery above my knee on March 3, 2008, and began another session of painful hospital days. It was another period of days at the hospital that my mom and I had to go through together. This time, the surgery was scheduled for a time after lunch. I don’t remember the exact time. But thanks to my past experience, I knew how much to eat the day before, took care of my business at the bathroom before going to bed, and got ready for the surgery. It was my third time having a surgery, but the anxiety was never changed.
When I got out of the surgery, I didn’t have good sensation on my legs. My legs felt like they weighted tons of kilograms and it was painful, given the fact that it was a bone surgery. But, the effectiveness of painkiller shots was great. I wasn’t able to sleep at night after the surgery I had before, maybe because I didn’t have painkiller shots back then. But this time, at least I didn’t have to suffer because of not being able to fall asleep because of pain. After a number of days at the hospital, it was finally time for me to exercise. But this time, they had built a sports medicine clinic, which allowed me to exercise systematically. So I exercised at that place most of the time.
When I was first started receiving rehabilitation, my knee was bending quite well. That time, they were satisfied with the flexibility of my knee, but it started to stiffen as lengthening continued. Then, the doctors taught me various kinds of exercise, such as slightly flexing the knee with a balloon stuck between the thigh and calf, or slightly pushing backward while I sat on a bed or a chair. The method of using crutches after a thigh surgery was different than the method after a calf surgery. I had to slightly tilt my body to use the crutches this time, since the Ilizarov device was right next to the crutches. Because I didn’t think I was going to stay as long as last time, I practiced using crutches at the sports medicine room, in the ward and in the hallway. At first, I set a goal to walk from where my bed to the door, and started off slowly.
But using crutches could get scary at first. Because it could happen that the crutch can land on water and slip and make me fall. My hands and back get all sweaty and legs get very heavy. It is very nerve wrecking and requires a lot of strength, I don’t think anyone who hasn’t tried would understand what I mean. Anyways, this is how I started rehabilitation along with lengthening. But maybe because there is more flesh on the thigh, it was more painful than the calf during the lengthening process.
I spent a month like that and had outpatient visits after the discharge. When I was getting discharged, I rented a wheelchair from Seoul. Because I needed a special wheelchair that could take in my upper legs too. My mom decided that I rent such wheelchair, the one that the left handle comes out, until I was done with lengthening, so we took it back home with us. But, it was another burden for us.
On our way to the hospital, the wheelchair didn’t fit in the trunk. It was a hopeless situation. I didn’t have to walk much since I had a wheelchair, but transferring it to the hospital was a problem. Sometimes we ordered a big van or a bigger cab, but it was quite pricey. So my mom and I prepared a strap, so that we could put the wheelchair in the trunk then tie it with the strap to the door handle.
The bones went oblique, so it had to be fixed at the outpatient. I don’t think my legs were stabilized well during the surgery. This time my right leg was okay, and only left leg was causing the problem. I felt hopeless at the outpatient. I didn’t have much time to be able to catch the train and my house was far in Busan. My dad had to go to work tomorrow, but we couldn’t go home because of the problematic leg. I really felt like crying.
Because the treatment took so long, they only took care of urgent treatment and we were able to go home at 10 pm. But my leg started bleeding. It was normal that it bled since the scar was touched at the hospital, but the amount was quite a lot that it shocked me. I felt really exhausted especially since I couldn’t eat that much at the hospital earlier in the day. When I got home at Busan, it was already 12.30 AM and around 2 AM when we finally got home. My mom was still awake at home. It was an exhausting day for both me and my dad. I was really upset, not only because we came back very late, but also because I was troubling my parents.
One day, we missed one outpatient appointment because my parents were too busy. So the professor told me to go to a nearby hospital and take an x-ray there and send it to him. After he saw the x-ray, he told me to hurry up and come to the hospital because the shape of the leg didn’t look right. So I hurried to the hospital, but luckily, it turned out that the x-ray taken at my local hospital wasn’t taken correctly. So at least I was relieved to hear that the leg was in good condition. My mom had even brought things for hospitalization, but luckily my leg wasn’t that bad. I guess the x-ray didn’t come out right at the hospital in my neighborhood since it was not that big and they don’t perform big surgeries there.
After all the outpatient appointments, the correction process had come to an end in August. I finally returned the rental wheelchair after 6 months, which came out to be lots of money. When we were returning the wheelchair, the person hinted to my mom that we didn’t use it cleanly. Now I had to walk a long distance since I didn’t have a wheelchair anymore. At that time, the Olympics was going on so I watched the Olympics games, walking down the stairs slowly at the train station, where I waited at the platform for 30 minutes. It was my first time walking on the long platform without the wheelchair, also my first time walking that far ever since I had the upper leg surgery. I was feeling a sense of accomplishment and relief as well. I was a bit overwhelmed by the thought of having to walk this far after I get to my town as well, but I had a good day that day. I was full with confidence that I can do things, even though I was dead tired when I finally got back home.
My only outing after I was done with outpatient was only the time when I went out home to get some air. I couldn’t easily contact my friends my friends because all of them were either serving in the military or going to school. I started getting depressed because I stayed home most of the time. I felt like it was my fault whenever my parents had an argument and I was by myself during the day. The only things I could be interested were my English vocabulary book, TV, and the computer. The only way I could communicate with people was through computer games, but sitting in front of the computer also made my back and legs hurt. So after that, I lied on my bed and look at the English book, then turn on the TV. I still set a daily schedule and tried to follow it. I did a lot of leg exercise and tried to stay strong.
Time just went by like that. The long duration in between my outpatient appointments showed that I was getting close to the completion of the 2nd surgery. It was a good thing. I could even notice that my legs were getting longer. Finally, it was the day to have the device removed on my upper legs after bone healing. Because the pins were bigger, it was more painful than the time they removed the pins on my lower legs.
After the removal, I came home with casts on. I rented a wheelchair at the train station to get home. Because my bed was too low, I used my parents’ bed, which was higher than mine. My parents slept in my room or in the living room every day. I felt so sorry and like I was a very bad son. But my mom always encouraged me when she was actually going through much than I was. What was I suffering from? Whenever I was in pain, I always complained to my mom and asked her why she gave birth to me. But it wasn’t like my mom and dad wanted to have a child like way either. That night, I cried secretly in my room.
After having the leg braces, I walked to my grandma’s slowly, and walked around in the neighborhood. I also when to the public bath and hair salon a few times too. And of course, I walked by myself. It took me one year and one month until I had the leg braces removed. I think it took a longer time for removal because I was at home most of the time without much exercise and my upper legs weren’t as strong as the lower legs.
After recovery, I used to go to the rehabilitation center for exercise, but I stopped going after a week, because I thought I could do better if I exercised at home by myself. I had pretty much learned the necessary exercises. Because of the exercises that I did at the rehabilitation center and at home, I didn’t have to go through another surgery for tendon release.